Sep 24, 2023 03:26 PM
https://www.livescience.com/health/medic...-blue-pill
INTRO: A spider whose venom triggers prolonged and painful erections may hold the key to more inclusive treatments for erectile dysfunction, scientists in Brazil report.
The researchers are testing a new drug derived from the venom of the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer), also called the banana spider because it is sometimes accidentally exported in banana shipments. It is one of the most toxic species of spiders in the world.
Among other symptoms — including increased blood pressure, nausea, abdominal cramps and convulsions — this spider's bite can cause a "prolonged and painful erection, which can lead to necrosis of the penis," meaning death of its tissues, Maria Elena de Lima, a professor of biomedicine and medicine at the Santa Casa Belo Horizonte hospital in Brazil who is leading the research, said in a translated statement.
However, in initial tests, a boner-triggering molecule drawn from the venom appears safe to use in humans. "Tests, so far, have demonstrated that the compound works with the application of a minimum amount and without any toxicity," de Lima said... (MORE - details)
INTRO: A spider whose venom triggers prolonged and painful erections may hold the key to more inclusive treatments for erectile dysfunction, scientists in Brazil report.
The researchers are testing a new drug derived from the venom of the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer), also called the banana spider because it is sometimes accidentally exported in banana shipments. It is one of the most toxic species of spiders in the world.
Among other symptoms — including increased blood pressure, nausea, abdominal cramps and convulsions — this spider's bite can cause a "prolonged and painful erection, which can lead to necrosis of the penis," meaning death of its tissues, Maria Elena de Lima, a professor of biomedicine and medicine at the Santa Casa Belo Horizonte hospital in Brazil who is leading the research, said in a translated statement.
However, in initial tests, a boner-triggering molecule drawn from the venom appears safe to use in humans. "Tests, so far, have demonstrated that the compound works with the application of a minimum amount and without any toxicity," de Lima said... (MORE - details)